Machine assemblers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, machine assemblers rate their career happiness 2.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 4% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy machine assemblers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Drywall installer | 2.6 | $13k |
| Roofer | 2.6 | $12k |
| Glazier | 2.6 | $29k |
| Forklift operator | 2.5 | $25k |
| Metal worker | 2.5 | $15k |
| Machine assembler | 2.4 | $26k |
| Petroleum pump system operator | 2.3 | $64k |
| Drill press operator | 2.3 | $42k |
| Molding and casting worker | 2.3 | $17k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are machine assemblers happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do machine assemblers find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as machine assemblers?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are machine assembler’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are machine assemblers making the best use of their abilities?
Are machine assemblers happy with their salary?
Machine assemblers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most machine assemblers having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked machine assemblers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
321 machine assemblers
11% of machine assemblers rated their compensation 5 stars
27% of machine assemblers rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of machine assemblers rated their compensation 3 stars
21% of machine assemblers rated their compensation 2 stars
12% of machine assemblers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do machine assemblers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, machine assemblers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.0/5. The majority of machine assemblers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked machine assemblers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
2.0 out of 5 stars
322 machine assemblers
6% of machine assemblers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
7% of machine assemblers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
16% of machine assemblers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
27% of machine assemblers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
44% of machine assemblers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as machine assemblers?
Machine assemblers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.2/5. The majority of machine assemblers don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked machine assemblers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
339 machine assemblers
17% of machine assemblers rated their career fit 5 stars
29% of machine assemblers rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of machine assemblers rated their career fit 3 stars
15% of machine assemblers rated their career fit 2 stars
16% of machine assemblers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a machine assembler’s work environment?
As a whole, machine assemblers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 2.8/5. Some machine assemblers are happy with their work environment, but it does not seem to be a meaningful contributer to career satisfaction for most.
We asked machine assemblers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
2.8 out of 5 stars
339 machine assemblers
12% of machine assemblers rated their work environment 5 stars
23% of machine assemblers rated their work environment 4 stars
21% of machine assemblers rated their work environment 3 stars
21% of machine assemblers rated their work environment 2 stars
22% of machine assemblers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are machine assemblers making the best use of their abilities?
Former machine assemblers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.2/5. Most feel that their skills are being underutilized in the career, probably leading to more general dissatisfaction with being a machine assembler.
We asked machine assemblers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
2.2 out of 5 stars
341 machine assemblers
7% of machine assemblers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
11% of machine assemblers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
18% of machine assemblers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
23% of machine assemblers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
40% of machine assemblers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars